Redesigned BeReal — An UX Case Study
Brief- Ux Challenge you need to choose an application , and select 2 consecutive screens (a 2-screen flow). You will be evaluating and redesigning this 2-screen flow in this challenge.
Note: Official BeRal team does not do this, This is just a concept.
Why BeReal?
It is becoming a new generation of social media and is getting a lot of users just because of the there clean and easy journey, I personally downloaded the application through good word of mouth. Above all the craze I have seen in the users actually to post around that notification and genuinely act REAL is good
UX Understandings
If we breakdown the app it does not have more than 20 screens and the main screen or the homepage we can call only have 3 calls to action:
- Profile section
- Discovery and My friends
- Suggestions for People, Friends, and Requests
Few UX laws, the app is following perfectly:
- 🏆Zeigarnik Effect- It occurs when an activity that has been interrupted may be more readily recalled. It postulates that people remember unfinished or interrupted tasks better than completed tasks. The current flow in BeReal gives the users a sense of being behind in the gamification journey as you can’t see other posts also they send you notifications as well even when your friends post a late BeReal
- 👥Social Proof- Users adapt their behaviors based on what others
- 🦄Scarcity- People value things more when they’re in limited supply, you can only post 1 BeReal a day, not more not less
- 🎏Law of Similarity- Users perceive a relationship between elements that look similar, it looks very similar to Instagram posts and people are used to it
- 🔦Spotlight Effect- People tend to believe they are being noticed more than they really are, You can react to anyone on the discovery page, not comment but at least react
- 🎈Parkinson’s Law- The time required to complete a task will take as much time as allowed, they set a timer to post the picture in just 2 mins, and either you do it in that time or you post it late
- 🗓 Fresh Start Effect-Users are more likely to take action if there’s a feeling of new beginnings
The 2 SCREENS I am redesigning are the profile and main homepage, why these 2 screens?
Because there is a Law in UX called 💼 Confirmation Bias which says People look for evidence that confirms what they think, and the profile section plays a very important role here, it also is a journey towards personalization.
Old screens:
What can be better in terms of familiarity basis:
Sketches with variations and user flow
- The icons everywhere could be in sync so that the subconscious of a user knows that it might be a button or some actionable can be done
- discovery and my friends should be more accessible which is at the bottom of the screen
- Profile image to be given equal importance and maybe can give the option to upload any BeReal’s as current profile picture later
- photos should float instead of being too tight on the screen where negative space is itself in a negative zone
Final Proposed Designs
Purposed Solved through design:
- Icons appear clean and clickable without any hit and trial
- The main clickable buttons all are at the bottom of the screen
- The font size used here is mostly 20px, 16px, and 12px.
- More negative space to appear the app feel and look classy
Conclusion:
Just with a basic negative space the app suddenly felt more appealing and should have a deep breakdown of design elements in negative space for better understanding, also single picture a day is not at all overwhelming for users and is a good User Experience to carry
What can I do better?
- Do at least 3–4 competitors' research and analysis
- Make more variations of the same screen and A/B test
- Have a diversity of user testers
- Have a coding and tech direction and eyes to it also
